


If It's You

by OverMyFreckledBody



Category: The Hollow (Cartoon)
Genre: Adam Is Bad At Flirting, Dialogue Heavy, First Kiss, M/M, Post-Season/Series 02
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-05-22
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:53:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24317620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OverMyFreckledBody/pseuds/OverMyFreckledBody
Summary: Kai maybe has a question about being gay (or is it really a guise to get Adam to "experiment" with him?).Adam is maybe a little too eager to help him out.They're both probably a little too obvious.
Relationships: Adam/Kai (The Hollow)
Comments: 33
Kudos: 300





	If It's You

**Author's Note:**

> this HAUNTED me since I watched s2 but it took me like a week to actually sit down and write it
> 
> love this funky little show

“So, you know how we’re in a game and what we do doesn’t matter and all that?”

They’re collapsed on the floor of Kai’s bedroom floor (his carpet is better and so is his TV). They’ve had the games turned off for a couple minutes now and are – well, _were_ – basking in the comfortable silence, each thinking about something and nothing, enjoying each other’s presence. However, Adam knows that Kai has been thinking about something all evening (his distraction bled into their games and Adam’s score was much higher than usual for it), so he was content to wait it out. Kai clearly had something to say, so Adam didn’t mind the quiet – or the breaking of it.

Now that it is broken, Adam turns his head to look at Kai. Kai resolutely does not look back at him. Still, Adam replies, “Kai, don’t you remember that discussion about how this is _real to us_ and that everything does matter? There was a fight…? Mira yelled…”

“I wasn’t there for most of that.” Kai shrugs, sleeves bunching against the carpet.

Adam rolls his eyes.

Several long moments pass and then, still staring at the ceiling, “How did you know you were gay?” His voice is surprisingly strong even if he still won’t look at Adam. “Did you, like… experiment?”

Adam is a little thrown off by the topic choice, but doesn’t let it shake him for long. He says back, “So that’s what this is about.”

“What!” Despite the squeak in his voice, the word itself is flat, less of a question and more of an exclamation. “There is no _this_! I was just wondering!”

Finally, he’s looking back over at Adam. His eyes are a little wide and shocked and he almost looks chagrined, as if he was caught doing – or asking? – something he shouldn’t have. Adam knows he _really_ shouldn’t say what he does next, but he can’t help himself.

“Oh, so you’re not asking if I’ll kiss you.” He figures it’s fine, though, because he smiles as he says it, showing Kai that he’s teasing. Mostly.

“ _Kissing?_ ” His voice has gone up an octave by this point, and Adam bites his lip to stop himself from laughing at it. Kai twists, sitting up on one elbow, and begins to talk so fast he’s almost hard to follow. “Nobody said anything about kissing! It was just a question, jeez,” he rolls his eyes here, but it’s not very convincing, “I’ll drop it.”

And now he’s looking away again.

Adam does laugh after that, but it isn’t mean or cruel. It’s lighthearted and fizzles out quickly enough. Sitting up, he observes Kai as he takes this in, thinking how he wants to address this.

‘Cause, it kind of sounds like Kai _does_ want to talk about kissing.

Kai doesn’t seem too bothered or tense during the slight pause, but it doesn’t look like he’s ready to say anything else, either. Adam is glad that Kai trusts him with this. That he feels comfortable enough to not get _too_ defensive about it.

He just needs a little handholding to guide him through, is all. But he always needs that. And Adam never minds helping him with it.

“What about Vanessa?” Adam asks, poking around the territory in search of known and not. It’s easier to guess the puzzle with more pieces, after all. “I thought the two of you were…” He searches for the right words. “… getting close.”

“Sure,” Kai shrugs, and he doesn’t seem as bothered with this line of conversation. “But not like… that. I mean, maybe kind of like that, before she, you know, dropped me from the sky –”

“You can literally fly,” Adam interrupts.

“— beside the point. She tried to kill me. _And_ ,” he says, speaking louder when Adam opens his mouth. He points a finger at Adam’s face and Adam goes cross-eyed staring at it. “I know we were part of a game and I’d be fine and she knew that, but…” He trails off and his hand drops to the floor. His eyes dart away. “I don’t know. I don’t really want to kiss her, but she’s still cool, you know. To hang out with. Talk games and cyborgs and stuff with. That contact lens idea was kinda ingenious.”

“Even though she cheated.”

“Even though she cheated,” Kai agrees with a bob of his head. A slow smile blooms over his face as he makes eye contact with Adam. “Once you get past that, it’s pretty cool. Come on, isn’t it?”

Adam rolls his head from side to side, making a show of thinking about it, but does concede, “… a little bit, I’ll admit…”

“Ha!” Kai pumps a fist in the air, much to Adam’s bemusement. “See? So, yeah. She’s cool. Not really into her like that, though.”

“But you are into me, ‘like that’,” Adam uses finger quotes, before clarifying, “Or, you want to kiss me, at least.”

“I never said that!” Kai yelps, but it isn’t like before. He doesn’t look away from Adam this time. He just frantically waves his hands around as if to dispel the idea. “That’s not what I said! Don’t put words in my mouth!”

Adam throws his own up in surrender and laughs, “Okay, okay!” Says, “You don’t want to kiss me,” but something sly curls around the edge of his mouth when he adds, “Don’t worry. I don’t want to kiss anybody who doesn’t want me to kiss them back.”

Kai freezes. He squints. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Adam plays innocent. “That I won’t kiss you?” It’s so, so fake.

“No,” Kai begins and then licks his bottom lip. “I mean. Would you though?” He keeps starting and stopping his words, making them come out in choppy, broken fragments. “Want to kiss me… if I wanted to… too?”

Adam shrugs and doesn’t hold back the playful grin that grows on his mouth. Kai looks just the smallest bit nettled. “I don’t know…” he draws out, especially when it makes Kai frown at him. “Do you want to?”

“Hey, that’s not fair!”

Adam laughs again and lets the teasing (or, most of it) drop. “It kind of is! I’m laying out all the groundwork for you here.” If he would just _ask_.

Kai crosses his arms over his chest. “Well, sor- _ry_ if I’m a little nervous about kissing a guy when I’ve never done it before!”

“Nobody’s saying you have to!” Adam tells him, a snap back reaction despite the fact that his mind kind of blanks because _Kai might actually be asking soon_.

“But maybe I want to!”

“Do you?”

“Well, kinda!” After saying this, Kai stops and then deflates. He glances away. “If…” Another short pause. “If it’s you, anyway.”

Adam blinks, halted himself. He’s caught completely offguard because.. _Oh_. It’s like that. It’s a little different than just _maybe I’m gay, help me out?_. Instead, it’s _maybe I’m gay for **you**_.

“Oh,” he says out loud, brain still looping that new information over and over. It has nowhere to go. But, then he smiles. “Then… I’d say, maybe I want to kiss you too.”

Kai looks over at him again. “You do?” He looks shifty. “I mean,” his voice is high again and he stops to clear his throat. “You would? Do that for me, I guess?”

“Well, sure,” Adam shrugs, trying to remain cool and collected. There’s only room for one freak out to happen tonight. His smile grows wider. “If it’s for you.”

Kai blushes. Actually blushes, visible blood in his face. It’s a pretty pink.

“Come here, Kai,” Adam tells him, a hint of a chuckle in his words. They’re quieter than before. Much quieter. Scooting closer, he reaches over and cups Kai’s cheek. And because he can’t help himself, he strokes a thumb over his cheekbone too. Kai watches him with wide eyes and a slightly parted mouth.

Adam gives him what he hopes is a comforting smile before he slowly leans in for that kiss.

Kai’s lips are soft, even if a little chapped. The cheek under Adam’s fingers is smooth and warm. He smells nice, something sweet that is familiar, even if Adam can’t place it. His breath hits Adam’s own mouth as he presses in, deliberate and lingering.

The kiss, overall, doesn’t last very long. Adam keeps it slow and almost syrupy, just what Kai needs for a gentle first kiss.

Adam pulls back, but allows his hand to stay. He lets his fingertips skim the warmth of Kai’s skin. “There. So?”

Kai licks his lips, his cheeks still quite pink. The movement of his tongue is so much more distracting, but it’s probably okay, because he looks a little distracted too. After a hazy second, he looks up at Adam, his eyes clearing. “Again?”

Adam… wasn’t expecting that (or the idea of a kiss, really, or any of this). He flusters, and in his floundering, Kai starts to grin. His eyes are so big, so pleased.

How’s a guy supposed to say no to _that_?


End file.
